I have been a high school teacher of mathematics for the past 17 years. I have taught every subject and every level in math and computer science that my district offers. I am a Nationally Board Certified teacher. I have a masters degree in Educational Technology. I still feel I have a lot to learn. The Discovery Education community is always teaching me something new and challenging me to grow as a educator. I am a life long learner and encourage my students to be as well.

Author Archives: Tom McLaughlin

In 2008 “Randy” Pausch died. You may have heard of the last lecture series, Pausch delivered his “Last Lecture”, titled ‘Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams’, at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007. This lecture was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then

Yes it is time to give thanks for all the fabulous DEN Stars. Check out where they are over the next few weeks. In one week Donna Teuber will be presenting at International 1:1 Computing Conference on 12/3/2013 at in Georgia. If you are presenting at a conference just fill out the form at the link. We will add

This week in my online courses we have been discussing delivery and assessment of content and how that is different in the online environment. In my last JOT post we discussed the modes of learning online and how that affects engagement. Engagement is an education code word for student motivation. How do you motivate students in

First of all I am taking advantage of my blog by saying “Thank You” to my wonderful wife for all that she does. Today is our wedding anniversery. I love you “Mo Bhean Chéile Álainn” In honor of the Hour of Code coming up (December 9th – 15th) I thought I would devote the

I started a second online course on online teaching. This is offered through PLS 3rd Learning The focus of this class is more of writing a specific course to be presented online. This week in that class we were looking at the modes of online learning. I have experienced the asynchronous/synchronous and the Self-paced format.

Hello all it it is that time again. Take a look at our stars on stage. If you are presenting at a conference just fill out the form at the link. We will add it to this Website and we can all support each other at the different conferences. I will post this every other week so

Google Web Designer BETA is a full featured FREE website development environment. It was created in a way that designs sites that work on every device. The designer handles the HTML5 and CSS3 so if you don’t know how to do all the technical stuff you can still create. If you want to you can still

The Hour of Code is Coming! 8:45AM was session zero in the fall VirtCon presented by James Gwertzman from Code.org. A full hour before the conference started! So you may have missed this diamond in the rough. Not to worry as it can be found in the archive. However, you should not let another min go

Piazza is a free online Course Communication system. It is an online platform that facilitates interaction among students and instructors in an efficient and intuitive manor. It was started as a way to help students who were stuck on homework problems get unstuck with the help of their classmates, TAs and professors. The list of what you can

This week my focus has been developing a virtual presence in the online course environment. In my face to face classroom on a Monday morning I can look across the tired faces and know I had better ramp up my excitement if I expect my students to get excited about what we are learning. In